Batin (Islam)
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Bāṭin or baten (
Many Ismaili Muslim thinkers have stressed the importance of the balance between the exoteric (zahir) and the esoteric (batin) in the understanding of faith, and have explained that spiritual interpretation (ta’wil) entails elucidating the esoteric meaning (bātin) from the exoteric form (zahir).[3]
Hence, early
In the Ismaili Muslim tradition, it is believed that the esoteric aspect of the faith can only be fully understood by the ahl al bayt – the family of Muhammad, who are in possession of this knowledge, or gnostic wisdom.[6] It is conveyed only by the Imam of the time descended from Muhammad or his supreme representatives – the Pirs, hujjats, and those whom the Imams appoint
In a wider sense, batin is the inner meaning or reality behind all existence, the zahir being the world of form and the apparent meaning.[7]
A grounding feature of Ismailism is the co-existence of the physical and the spiritual, the zahir (exoteric) form and the batin (esoteric) essence. The esoteric is the source of the exoteric, and the exoteric is the manifestation of the esoteric. This concept is highlighted in the “Epistle of the Right Path”, a Persian Ismaili prose text from the post-Mongol period of Ismaili history, by an anonymous author.[8]
Batin as the basis for Taqiyyah for Ismailis
The Ismaili community, a minority within a minority, places significant emphasis on the esoteric aspects of Islam, known as batin. It shares this belief with many other Shia Muslims, Sufis, and others. Where there is hostility to esoteric understandings of Islam, this heightened focus on the faith’s inner dimensions creates a greater need for
Ismailis and other esoterically-inclined Muslim communities employ taqiyyah to ensure the esoteric teachings are reserved only for those who are prepared to receive them.[10] Taqiyyah entails that believers who possess esoteric knowledge conceal it knowledge from those who have not reached the same level of initiation.
The reasons for this concealment are twofold. Firstly, the unprepared recipient of such information may find it emotionally or mentally overwhelming, making it necessary to protect their well-being. Secondly, there is a risk that an uninitiated individual may misunderstand or reject the esoteric knowledge, causing them spiritual harm.[11]
See also
- Sufism
- Esotericism
- Esoteric interpretation of the Quran
- Batiniyya
- Ismailism
- Nizari
- Alawites
- Qarmatians
References
- ISBN 186064760X. p. 90.
- ISBN 0748631135. Page 64.
- ^ Virani, Shafique (2019). "Hierohistory in Qāḍī l-Nuʿmān's Foundation of Symbolic Interpretation (Asās al-Taʾwīl): The Birth of Jesus". Studies in Islamic Historiography: 147.
- ^ Virani, Shafique (2005-01-01). "Symphony of Gnosis: A Self-Definition of the Ismaili Ginan Literature". Reason and Inspiration in Islam: Theology, Philosophy and Mysticism in Muslim Thought: 512.
- ^ Virani, Shafique (2005-01-01). "Symphony of Gnosis: A Self-Definition of the Ismaili Ginan Literature". Reason and Inspiration in Islam: Theology, Philosophy and Mysticism in Muslim Thought: 504.
- ^ Virani, Shafique (2005-01-01). "Symphony of Gnosis: A Self-Definition of the Ismaili Ginan Literature". Reason and Inspiration in Islam: Theology, Philosophy and Mysticism in Muslim Thought: 504.
- ^ Radtke, B. "BĀṬEN". Encyclopedia Iranica. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
- S2CID 170748666.
- ISSN 0021-9118.
- ISSN 0021-9118.
- ISBN 978-90-04-40697-1, retrieved 2023-08-16